The Wagner Family Is Basketball Royalty

By: Melo Williams 

Due to an on-court brawl on Thursday night at the Camden County Tournament between nationally-ranked Camden and Eastside (Camden) the Camden City School District has removed both teams from the NJSIAA state tournament.

The disciplinary action taken unfortunately ends the spectacular historic high school basketball career of Five-Star #1 ranked high school point guard, Kentucky signee D.J. Wagner. The Camden Panthers are ranked No. 6 in the nation with a record of 23-2, however, Wagner and the Panthers will not be able to compete for a New Jersey high school state championship.

D. J. Wagner ends his four-year high school career with a record of 94-5 and 2,040 points. As a 6-foot-3 guard, Wagner led the Panthers in scoring all four seasons with the team, averaging 19.5 points as a freshman, 22.0 points as a sophomore, 19.8 points as a junior, and 22.5 points this year as a senior.

D. J. Wagner comes from basketball royalty. The Wagner family is arguably the most accomplished in high school basketball history. All three, Milt, Dajuan, and D. J. all played and starred at Camden High in Camden, New Jersey.

D.J. was selected as a McDonald’s All-American making him the first third-generation McDonald’s All-American selection. His grandfather Milt was selected in 1981 and his father Dajuan was selected in 2001.

D. J. joined his father Dajuan (3,462 points) and his grandfather Milt (2,003 points) in the 2,000-point club becoming the first family in high school basketball history to have three generations score 2K plus points.

The elder statesman, Milt Wagner led the Louisville Cardinals to the 1986 NCAA Championship along with three Final Four berths in 1982,  1983, and 1986 as well as a trip to the Sweet Sixteen in 1984.

Milt Wagner ranks fifth in Cardinal basketball history with 1,836 career points while averaging 12.7 for his college career scoring average while averaging 3.0 assists and 2.5 rebounds.

Milt was drafted in the second round of the 1986 NBA Draft by the Dallas Mavericks and won a Finals championship in 1988 as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers. Milt Wagner is one of the few players that have won national titles in high school, college, and in the NBA. Milt is now the Director of Player Development/Alumni Relations at his alma mater the University of Louisville.

D. J.’s father, Dajuan was a scoring machine and is considered by many to be the greatest high school basketball player in New Jersey history.

During his freshman year at Camden High, he averaged 27.3 points and recorded a season-high 45 points. Dajuan won the ESPN Freshman of the Year award.

In his sophomore year, Dajuan scored a new career-high of 57 points. He finished his sophomore season averaging 35.3 points per game winning ESPN’s Sophomore of the Year award.

Dajuans junior season against Pennsauken Tech he scored 80 points (24 in the fourth quarter) in a 122–66 win. Dajuan averaged 31.9 points per game in his junior year.

In Wagner’s senior year, he scored 100 points. It was probably the first time reported or heard of, a basketball player scored 100 points since the late great Hall of Famer Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points in the NBA for the Philadelphia Warriors in 1962 in a 169-147 victory over the New York Knicks.

He scored on 42 of his 61 field goals, including 10 3-pointers, and 6 free throws. Dajuan Sr. scored 25 points in the first quarter, 21 in the second, 26 in the third, and 28 in the fourth quarter. Wagner scored 50 or more points 4 more times during the season while averaging 42.5 points per game.

Dajuan Wagner Sr’s 3,462 points is the most in New Jersey high school basketball history, breaking former New Jersey high school star John Somogyi’s scoring record of 3,451 points. For perspective on how great a scorer Somogyi was when he played, there was no 3-point line.

Dajuan Sr. played one year of college basketball at the University of Memphis for head coach John Calipari. Wagner led the Tigers to an NIT Championship in 2002 and was also named the NIT MVP. Wagner broke the record for points in a single season for Memphis with 762 points.

Wagner was selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers 6th overall in the 2002 NBA Draft. In his rookie season, he averaged 13.4 points per game and shot 36.9% from the field.

Wagner dealt with health issues while in the NBA. He was hospitalized and treated for ulcerative colitis. Eventually, Wagner had to have half of his colon removed which forced him into retirement. Wagner played for the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors.

It remains to be seen how D. J. Wagner’s college career at Kentucky plays out. Knowing the history of dominant scoring guards playing under Coach Calipari, chances are D. J. is going to be the focal point of Calipari’s offense. Questions like how many points will D. J. average at Kentucky and whether will he be a one-and-done player and enter his name in the 2024 NBA Draft remains to be answered.

With D. J. Wagner’s future being unknown, right now, we can easily say that the Wagner Family is already cemented in basketball history with the possibility of adding more history to the Wagner Legend.

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